Sand Raiders

Sand Raiders are tribal humans who (usually) forgo the traditional settlement and agriculture of the majority of humankind in exchange for raiding and slave trading. Dwarven runes use the same symbol representing Slabs to represent them in maps and simple illustrations. They were one of the lesser antagonists in Syrupleaf, being general nusiances more than anything.

They appear to have arisen as a result of thier harsh surroundings, becoming nomadic hunters and herders going from oasis to oasis and sending out raiders to aquire things they can't make themselves. It is believed thier tribe structure is as follows.

Clan Leaders (warlords, generals, chieftians and the like)

Guards (Thier term for veterans)

Warriors

Herdsmen

Hunters

Artisans

Noncombatants (those too young, sick, or hurt to fight for the clan)

Black Servants (made up of various enslaved children and thier descendants, though many rise into the ranks of Warrior, Guard, or even Clan Head.)

They will often raid caravans for goods and take as much coin as possible, preferably copper and silver, which they can make thier simple but effective melee weapons and dense arrows and bolts from. In East Everoc, they are shown to be superb marksmen, able to shave the foam from a fresh beer with one well aimed shot.

They are not inclined to discrimminate on gender lines, and it is possible that this may have influenced the Mountain Barbarians who are also vicious semi-nomadic slavers and warriors.

In the west, particularly the deserts of the Inlands, the Sand Raiders are replaced by tribals calling themselves either Desert Striders or Dune Wardens. For all intents and purposes as far as those inhabitants are concerned, they are little better than the Sand Raiders who died in the East with most life there.

It is believed that some Sand Raiders joined various pirate groups and may have been among those humans who survived the inital mess in East Everoc, eventually melding with the "normal" humans to become the Mountain Barbarians.